Although it states that the maximum stay is 2 hours, this merely means that you have to feed the meter every 2 hours between 08:00 and 18:00 Mon – Sat inclusive, which is £40 per day (hence the penalty charge is £60).

Now, consider parking a few metres away at the Sauchiehall Street Car Park.

This is clearly far more expensive that street parking at night or on Sunday.

Sunday all day is £2.00, whereas the street is free. Overnight on the street is also free, but here it is £2.00.

Now, if you stay for 2 hours, the car park will cost you £2.40, compared with the street bay’s £4.00 — but are you really going to be there for 2 hours?

Let’s say you wanted to park for 15 mins. That would cost you just 50p on the street, but a whopping £1.20 in the car park.

This is true of half and hour too — £1.20 in the car park versus £1.00 on the street.

It is only after three-quarters of an hour that the car park becomes cheaper than the roadside.

Some people might think that, compared with the street, £2.00 is worth paying for a secure car parking space — but the small print states that after 06:30 in the morning, you start getting charged £1.20 per hour until you arrive to pick up the vehicle! And consider that most of the streets are brightly lit and covered by CCTV paid for by your council taxes, and the street looks like the better option.